Matt Haverstack is watching with a keen eye how the NCAA handles its investigation into Michigan State’s role in the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal.

Haverstack was an attorney in a lawsuit against the NCAA that helped overturn sanctions against the Penn State football program in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal involving Jerry Sandusky, the longtime Nittany Lions defensive coordinator who was accused of abusing 10 young boys over 15 years, including many he met through his charity organization The Second Mile .

And Haverstack has some words of caution for MSU officials as the process begins.

“What I think Michigan State needs to be on guard for, institutionally, is the NCAA, because of the sheer nature of the offenses or the quantum of the offenses, starting to freelance a little bit and not follow its rules,” said Haverstack, a Philadelphia attorney who represented Pennsylvania senator Jake Corman in the Penn State lawsuit. “And that was our belief about what happened with Penn State. Did the NCAA rules as written afford an institution and the individuals there a certain level of process before they were punished? We always believed, and I think we would have shown in trial, that the NCAA circumvented that in Penn State’s case.

“I would assume it would be a concern at MSU that the NCAA was following its rules strictly.”

MSU received a letter of inquiry from Oliver Luck, the NCAA’s executive vice president of regulatory affairs and strategic partnerships, on Jan. 23. In the letter, Luck called the assaults Nassar pleaded guilty to “heinous and appalling” and cited NCAA bylaw 20.9.1.6 on “The Commitment to Student-Athlete Well-Being" as the reason for the investigation.

“While it’s understandable that various investigations must run their courses and criminal and civil matters will take time to conclude,” Luck wrote, “we do not believe that a wait-and-see approach is proper in this matter.”

Nassar, 54, of Holt has been accused of abusing more than 250 women or young girls under the guise of medical treatment, including while serving as sports medicine doctor for USA Gymnastics and MSU. Not all the accusations, which include more than a dozen from former Spartan athletes, have led to charges.

Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in prison on three federal charges related to child pornography before being sentenced to 40 to 175 more years on seven sexual assault charges last week in Ingham County Circuit Court.

At least 65 women are expected to give victim impact statements during Nassar’s sentencing on three more sexual assault charges in Eaton County over the next week. Those proceedings began Wednesday.

Haverstack said the difference in the NCAA’s case against Penn State and its case against Michigan State is that some of Nassar’s victims were student-athletes at MSU. Sandusky’s victims all were underage children.

In 2012, the NCAA announced significant sanctions against Penn State football, including a $60-million fine, a four-year postseason ban, scholarship reductions from 25 to 15 per year over four years, five years of NCAA probation and forfeiture of wins from 1998-2011.

In 2013, the NCAA announced a gradual restoration of the scholarships back to the Football Bowl Subdivision limit of 85. In 2014, before the Corman and Haverstack lawsuit made it to court, the NCAA lifted the postseason ban and restored the scholarships immediately. The Nittany Lions were re-credited with the vacated wins in early 2015.

Buy Photo

Larry Nassar listens to 17-year-old Jessica Thomashow's victim impact statement Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018, during the first day of victim impact statements in Eaton County Circuit Court in Charlotte, Mich., where Nassar is expected to be sentenced on three counts of sexual assault some time next week.(Photo: MATTHEW DAE SMITH/Lansing State Journal)

“The NCAA is not law enforcement, it is not civil lawyers,” Haverstack said. “It is an organization that is supposed to regulate a certain aspect of intercollegiate sports.”

At least a few of Nassar’s victims claim they reported abuse to MSU officials, including former gymnastics coach Kathie Klages and trainers in other sports. A number of other athletes came forward after the Indianapolis Star and Lansing State Journal shed light on what originally had been described to them as a legitimate medical treatment by Nassar. Some of Nassar’s younger victims who were not MSU students had their parents in the room with them when the alleged abuse occurred.

Shan Wu, a former federal prosecutor and counsel to ex-U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, said there has been a “big cultural shift” in recent years for victims to report when they have been violated.

“I think there is much stronger awareness of campus sexual assaults and that the students are much more willing to come forward about it,” Wu said. “I think that because of the Education Department’s scrutiny, because of the work of grassroots activists … who singlehandedly pushed the issue, the schools have been forced to be much more responsive to this issue.”

Haverstack laid out the case the NCAA may have for issuing punishment against MSU, but also the case the university may have for the Nassar scandal falling outside of its authority.

Michigan State University(Photo: LSJ file photo)

“The case for NCAA jurisdiction is that this is a horrific thing that happened within the athletic realm at MSU,” Haverstack said. “The case against is, what is the NCAA supposed to be regulating? And is the NCAA supposed to be regulating the conduct of sports programs qua sports programs, or is it supposed to be an organization that has some sort of — I don’t know where it came from — broader mandate to regulate morality and good conduct? It doesn’t, strictly speaking, have to do with the sports team itself, and that’s a debate we had in State College.

“That will certainly be one of the issues I assume all of the sides will debate and argue over as the months go on, even if it’s accepted that the NCAA is appropriately investigating MSU at all in this circumstance.”

While still trying to grasp the scope of the Nassar situation, Haverstack said he could not determine whether the NCAA should be looking at MSU or whether the abuse claims need to stay in criminal and civil court. However, he witnessed the toll the NCAA’s investigation against Sandusky and Penn State had on the community as it dragged on over the years, and he said that is something the NCAA should take into account.

“If there is one recommendation I would have to MSU, it would be define and settle right now, before anything happens, exactly what authority the NCAA has to investigate,” Haverstack said. “And then decide, OK, this is the lane you’re in, and we’re not going to let you stray into other lanes.”